Suppliers of products, e.g., consumer goods, often promote particular merchandise through a retail store at a discount over a specific period of time. The promotional merchandise may be displayed in special promotional merchandise displays to increase sales or awareness of a particular brand, product, or type of products. The success of promotional merchandise displays often depends on timely stocking merchandise, display durations, and specific placement within a store in coordination with shopping seasons, marketing campaigns, and store layout. A successful promotional merchandise display may maximize sales for that merchandise.
Products of promotional merchandise displays may first be shipped to a store storage or backroom with a specific range of time for moving out to the sales floors or on shelves. Meeting or exceeding promotional sales targets of the retailer or the supplier may depend on shipping promotional merchandise displays to right spots in the store at the right time. On the other hand, a poor execution of promotional merchandise displays may lead to customer dissatisfactions and/or missing sales targets. For example, if the promotional merchandise displays are not moved into right spots in time, customers may be frustrated because they could not purchase the product advertised, e.g., on TV or in the newspaper.
In addition to the timing factor, the sales floor or shelves in a store may be classified according to their desirability for selling merchandise. Locations desirable for selling merchandise may be referred to as “hot spots.” These hot spots are often locations for promotional merchandise displays because typically merchandise sells better at these hot spots than at other locations. These hot spots in a store may be locations close to main entrances or main pathways, or even shelve levels that are easier for customers to retrieve merchandise.